(UTV|COLOMBO) – Cricket Australia should reconsider bans given to three Test cricketers involved in a ball-tampering scandal, the players’ union says.
Former captain Steven Smith and batsmen David Warner and Cameron Bancroft apologised last week over the incident in a Test match in South Africa.
Smith and Warner received 12-month bans from the sport, while Bancroft was suspended for nine months.
The bans were “disproportionate” to the misconduct, the union said.
Australian media outlets have reported that the players, in particular former vice-captain Warner, are considering whether to challenge the bans.
Australian Cricketers’ Association president Greg Dyer said the players had shown “absolutely extraordinary” contrition through their separate press conferences.
“Their distressed faces has sent a message across the globe as effective as any sanctions could be,” he said on Tuesday.
“I think Australia cried with Steve Smith last Thursday – I know I certainly did.”
Cricket Australia’s investigation found that Warner had instructed Bancroft to carry out the plan to scratch the ball with sandpaper, and demonstrated to him how to do it.
Degrading one side of a ball can help it to swing in the air, making it harder for batsmen to play.
Courtesy: BBC Sport
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